The Actor's Influence, Part 2: What You Project...QUALITY vs. Type

In the last article, we discussed how doing the same thing and getting the same unwanted result, can lead to feelings of frustration and helplessness, and how over a period of time, these feelings can steal not only our energy and enthusiasm, but also undermine our self-esteem.

In this article we are going to start to discuss some of the things that are actually in the actor’s realm of influence.

*What you do have influence or some control over?

* What are some things you can do to take charge of your career & happiness?

We are going to start with what you project to other people and how we can influence this by defining our image more specifically.

First, let’s look at what other people see when they look at you and your headshot:

What you PROJECT: Either from your headshot or meeting you in person, what people see, hear, and observe you doing and saying, and how you do it and say it, makes up your image.

There are two basic components that make up what we project to others:

(1) Your PHYSICAL TYPE: what you look like without saying a word, and

(2) Your QUALITY: how you speak and behave. 

The focus today seems to be on Type.

(To me, your physical type is not so difficult to define. You fit into a certain age range, ethnicity and gender. It’s not so hard to determine if you look upscale or lower or middle class or another category you might fit into.)

What I believe is more important, is to define your Quality.

The reason for this is that as soon as you open your mouth and speak or take on an action, your Quality will either enhance or diminish your physical type.

Here’s an easy way to brake this down -

Physical Type (External) is characterized by your physical make up; what you look like.

QUALITY (Internal) This is your essence manifested. It’s that special something that emanates from your photo. It’s that thing that colors your attitude. It is who we are without the presence of tension or emotional upheaval. It’s what makes you “you”. It should be the “who” casting sees when they look at your headshot or meet you in person. It is the “who” they are asking you to be when they say, “just be yourself”.

Type defines your physical make-up

Quality comes from within and is manifested through your behavior.

Quality is different from personality.

Your personality is made up of many characteristics and traits and is subject to all kinds of circumstances.

Your Quality colors the way you walk, talk, smile, greet, laugh or converse. It’s not only what you do, but also the way you do it.

If you have a warm and sincere quality you will approach a situation much differently from a loud and aggressive person.

A person whose Quality is flirtatious will ask for help differently from one who is shy.

Your Quality colors how you see and read copy or sides. It is the lens by which we view the material.

Your Quality should enhance or compliment your Type.

If you look like a nerd, then it would be best if your Quality, either compliments your nerdy look or enhances it.

Commercially speaking, when I was working in casting the people who I saw book consistently are the ones who came in each and every time with the same Quality.

For some reason, people still have it in their mind that a commercial shot should be a warm smiling shot and a theatrical shot should be dark and intense.

To me if it’s not “who you are” it’s a form of false advertising and a set up to be frustrated.

You can have many shots, but you definitely want them all to resonate some degree of Quality.


Next Time: Are you in ALIGNMENT with your QUALITY? 

Have Great Thanksgiving!

Hello again everyone!

The November 1-7 issue of Back Stage West magazine contained an article I wrote called, "How to Make Auditions Dynamic."  In case you missed it in print, it's now online.  I believe there's some great advice in there and solid tips for bringing your auditions up to a performance level.  Check it out and let me know what you think!  Here's the link:

How To Make Auditions Dynamic

Best, John

Hello!

I'll be posting here on (hopefully) a weekly basis with thoughts, ideas, suggestions and encouragement for success on your acting journey. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have on any of our topics...or suggest a new one! 

Looking forward to the weeks and months ahead!

-John


THE ACTOR'S INFLUENCE: 
by John Sudol

I understand this business is a frustrating one. 

The actor is seeking approval on so many levels. It’s easy to see why over a period of time people would begin to feel like they have no control over anything. You can’t make an agent take you on as one of his clients. You can’t force a casting director to see you and you surely can’t make a director or producer hire you. Adding to the frustration are those times when you finally do meet up with a talent agent or casting director and have them tell you what a great type you are or how wonderful your work was and never hear from them again. 

Unfortunately this is the nature of the business. 

If we do the same thing - Take the same action (or a variation of the same action) 
And continue to get the same unwanted result each time - Something Must Change. 

Some new action MUST be taken!

If we fail to do this, we can’t help but fall into a state of helplessness and frustration (which can easily lead to a state of depression) where all forward action is stopped. To occasionally feel frustrated and helpless is normal for anyone in any business, but a constant feeling of frustration and helplessness is an actor’s occupational hazard. 

The constant bombardment of these feelings creates a wall between you and what you really want to accomplish. They steal our excitement, our energy and most of all our self-esteem.

Most people aren’t even aware of the degree of frustration and helplessness they are experiencing. Whether we admit that we truly feel helpless and frustrated or not, over a period of time, these feelings create a negativity that permeates our entire being, making people, not only in the business, but the people around us want to avoid us. We begin to reek of either hostility or desperateness or both. This is sensed the moment we walk into a room. Hostility or desperation is neither appealing nor self-serving, but without a doubt, both are self-perpetuating.

Fortunately, we do have a choice in all these situations. We can remove ourselves from this self-imposed hell. 

It does take a bit of work but the result is worth it. The first three steps in this process are to raise our level of energy, start living more consciously and to take responsibility for your own happiness and success.  

In other words, if I do not have a sufficient amount of energy to combat the feelings of frustration and helplessness, I will not have the will-power to change.

If I am not conscious of my state of mind or my actions, how can I change anything about me? 

If I don’t take responsibility for my own happiness and success who will? 

Proactive people put their energy and focus on the things they have some level of influence over. The nature of their energy is positive, moving in forward direction, which brings about a greater area of influence. 

Whereas, reactive people focus their efforts in the things they have no influence over. They tend to focus on their own weakness or the weakness of others or circumstances over which they have no control.

One way to move from a reactive condition to a proactive state is to make a list of all your concerns

What you are giving most of your energy, thought and action to? 

As you make a list of all your concerns -  
Notice which ones you have some influence over and which ones you don’t. 

For example; you may have had a meeting with an agent and they chose not to represent you. Not having an agent may be a great concern, but if you are putting most of your energy and thought into the disappointment of not getting the agent you are in a reactive state. You have no influence over the agent’s final choice. 

What you do have influence over is what you project in the interview and what you bring with you to the interview - your skills, experience and how you handle interview.

What do you actually have influence or control over AND new areas in which you can take positive action:
What you Project – Type and Quality, Level of Skill – choices and execution of those choices, 
The Business – knowledge of the business and acting on that knowledge, 
Creativity – expanding and execution
Will Power – Consistency and follow through  
Self-Esteem – what it really means to the actor.

By defining what is actually in our realm of influence, we can better define what actions we need to take. 

By focusing our energy and thoughts on what we have influence over, we will move from a place of helplessness and frustration to a place of empowerment.

UP Next: What you Project 

See you then - John